All I Seem to Do
by Rosetta-Carthridge
Summary: Hermione Granger never saw herself as someone worth fighting for until Griffin and Draco decided she was. Find out how and why this came to happen and how Hermione has changed into someone no one ever thought she would be. Set in the middle of eighth year, slight OoC. Please note that this is rated M and will contain mature content.


**AN:** Hia! So I am trying something new, considering my last two writing attempts were more like debacles (in short they didn't go well).This story is inspired by a song called "All I Seem to Do" by Rachel Platten and is going to be around 16ish chapters long. I will be switching from 3rd to 1st person to make sure the story goes as planned and it will be noted. I will try my hardest to post around three times a month. Please enjoy.  
~Rosetta Carthridge

**Part One  
**In Hermione's mind, she has three homes- her actual house, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the Hogwarts Library (plus the one in her Head dorm). Her homes are where she felt safe and secure, surrounded by the things and people she loves. At home she has her friends, books, and Crookshanks. At Hogwarts she has Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Hagrid, Fang, and Crookshanks AND that's not even mentioning the fact that she has lived there every year for seven, going on eight, years. At the Hogwarts Library (plus the one in her Head dorm) she has access to a vast amount of knowledge and books. And, in Hermione's mind, there was nothing better than that. Except maybe one thing and that one thing is staring directly at our star of the story.

_(First Person)_ In the middle of my two foot long essay for Professor Slughorn's class on the pros and cons of Veritaserum, I felt the uncomfortable sensation that comes with someone staring at you for a prolonged amount of time and not letting you know. It's not that I haven't been stared at before by people, I mean I did go to the Yule Ball looking like a girl, it's the fact that it's the stare of a guy. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. Ask any of your women friends and they will be able to tell you that it is true, we can distinguish the gender of a person just by their stare. I let it slide when I first feel it, because life keeping moving and I was sure that they had more important things to do than stare at Hermione Granger doing her homework in the library. Guess I was wrong (shocker, I know), because I still felt it thirty minutes later and after thirty minutes, its creepy and downright annoying. I peek up from my parchment and look around at the surrounding tables and through the gaps of the bookcases and saw no one looking my direction. Not satisfied with my first search, I got up from my table and manually checked the aisles between the bookcases and again ended up with no suspects.

Resigning to the fact that the creeper had fled the scene, I made my way to my table, which was empty when I left it. Another soul had sat down at my table and was diligently working on translating Ancient Runes from the looks of it. I cautiously sat down and stared at the person sans being creepy and (unlike me) they didn't flinch or shiver or do anything to show that they were bothered by it. After staring got boring, I went back to work and finished my essay for Slughorn, McGonagall's reading for the next two weeks, my ancient runes translations for the next week, and some personal reading selections in the next two hours. The whole two hours was spent in silence between me and other being except for some murmurings on a hard translation or the accidental reading aloud of a paragraph. I couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy, but based on their work load and the speed that their doing it at, I could deduce that they are in eighth year and are very smart. Handwriting didn't help much, because if I had to guess gender based on handwriting Ginny would become Gino and Lee would become Lena.

The heavy doors of the library slammed shut behind me as Harry and Ron dragged me from the library to the Great Hall for dinner. They were very stubborn about the fact that I needed to eat at least twice a day in the presence of my friends to keep social contact, because they knew if I had it my way that they would only see me in class and on rare trips to the library. Dinner was amazing as always and the conversations were hysterical. After dinner, I went to the Gryffindor common rooms with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. Neville and Luna started dating over the summer and Ginny got back with Harry, so they all started doing couple things and left Ron and I hanging out to dry. We tried to date after the War, but there were too many problems on both sides. I couldn't help but feel like he would walk out again and Ron kept thinking that Harry and I had something going on. I bided everyone good bye, despite the moans and groans, after playing Wizard's Chess with Ron twice while losing spectacularly and Exploding Snaps with the group a couple hundred times.

Playing all those games and talking wore me out more than I thought, since on my walk back to the Head dorms I ran straight into the muscular chest of Griffin Lancaster, an eighth year transfer student from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I felt the rumble of laughter against his chest and the warmth of his hands on my waist. I peered up from my perch on his chest and saw his smile and the sparkle in his sapphire blue eyes and I knew he was more amused than mad.

"I didn't see you there." I told Griffin, hoping he would believe that I wasn't like his groupies. In the few months he has gone here, he has had at least ten offers to be someone's boyfriends or boy toy, but he told me he had said no to each and every one of them. Whenever I asked why, he could clam up and simply say that's not what he wants.

"I can tell. Why is Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Golden Girl, out roaming the halls and attacking innocent men? Do you have a late night rendezvous you wish to tell me about?" He responded with laughter in his silken voice. I had already admitted to myself that I had a mini-crush on Griffin. Every girl did. This boy definitely got the good end of the gene pool, with his sharp jaw line, aristocratic nose, well-defined chest, deep blue eyes, and an orgasmic voice. His dark brown hair fell into the aforementioned eyes and his mouth curled up into a crooked smile.

"I have a rendezvous with my bed and a good book, if that is what you are referring to. And I would hardly call you innocent, Griffin." I told the boy cheekily and righted myself, taking my body out of his warm embrace.

"Would you like to find out for sure?" He responded, his eyes darkening and his voice deepening. My body responded in an unfamiliar manner. Warmth spread though my body, like honey, sweet, golden, and slowly. My mind, on the other hand, was going a warp speed and on red alert. I had no idea what he meant. Who am I kidding- yes, I did, but I didn't have any idea if he meant it or not. Griffin looked at my slightly parted lips, wide eyes, and lack of movement and slowly his eyes lighten. "Hermione… Are you in there?"

"What? Umm… yeah." I snapped out of my shock and smiled at him. He laughed, deep and rich, and offered me his arm.

"You really should get to your rendezvous with your bed. You are dead on your feet. I don't want anyone taking advantage of you in this state." Griffin told me as I took his arm and we started walking down the darkened hallway. My hearted started beating very fast and I hoped on my life he couldn't tell that I was freaking out a little. Other than Victor and Ron, guys never really paid attention to me, so knowing how to stay cool in situations like this wasn't something I learned. We chatted lightly about school and his home, until we reached a portrait of a lady dressed in silver and red and a man in green and gold. The man in the portrait was sleeping in a chair and the lady was writing in a journal. We slowed to a stop and he hugged me good night. As our faces passed each other, he closed the gap and captured my lips with his. The warmth spread again, quicker this time, but stopped when he broke off the kiss. My cheeks were burning and I looked everywhere but at him.

"Well, uh… good night." He blurted, not really knowing what to say, and smiled at me. He walked back the way we came, towards the Ravenclaw tower, and I watched him until he melted into the darkness. I touched my lips with my hands and smiled into it. So that's why he said no to all of those girls. He wants me. Griffin Lancaster wants me, Hermione Granger. Maybe. Possibly. I told the lady the password and walked inside.

_(Third person)_ Blasting music, the sound of drunken laughter, and the acrid stench of sweat met Hermione as the portrait swung shut behind her. All the giddiness that was evident on Hermione's face was wiped off and replace with hatred and annoyance. She walked into the throng of people writhing against one another to the music and kept walking until she found who she wanted. Sitting on a couch, with a girl suckling on his neck, Draco Malfoy was the life of the party. It was happening in his dorm, it was his fire whiskey, and it was his idea. He knew that the bookworm was off in her room doing who knows what, but he didn't really care as long as she didn't come down stairs. Malfoy was king at casting silencing charms and he had put the strongest one he could muster. Much to his surprise, Hermione was not in her room, she was standing in front of him with her arms crossed and a look of annoyance on her face. He tapped the lovely witch that was on his lap and told her to take a rain check. She huffily got up and disappeared into the crowd. Malfoy looked at Granger and sighed. She still looked pissed and still had her arms crossed. He took a swig of whiskey from the bottle and opened his mouth to speak.

"NO," Hermione interrupted. "I don't care what you have to say. YOU NEED TO TELL ME ABOUT THESE THINGS! I was two seconds away from bringing a guy in. I could care less that you are hosting a party, as long as it is cleaned up and no one comes into my room. SO next time you throw one of these things, what are you gonna do?"

Malfoy just stared at Hermione. He couldn't believe his ears. The bookworm was giving him the okay to throw parties as long as she was aware that they are happening. He also couldn't believe that she was going to bring a guy to her room. Since the beginning of the year, the only guys that came and went were Neville, Ron, and Harry. "Sure, I'll let you know. Did you just say you were going to bring a guy here?"

Hermione's face flushed red and she averted her eyes from Malfoy's gaze. He laughed at this and said, "Oh Merlin. You were going to, weren't you? This is priceless. Hermione Granger is coming to the dark side and losing her innocence with it." Anger filled Hermione and she snapped. Malfoy had been making little comments like that all year and she was fed up with it. Her hand came up and smacked the boy hard across the face. The people who saw it happen gasped and stopped what they were doing. Malfoy was cradling his face and staring with disbelief at the Head Girl. The fact that Hermione used physical means to hurt him instead of magical means showed how pissed she was.

"Don't. Ever. Speak. To. Me. In. That. Way. Ever. Again. Or I will give you something to really cry about." Hermione threatened and stormed to her room. Slapping and yelling and kissing and the rest of the day had really worn her out. She had enough energy to take of her robes, shoes, and socks before falling into her bed.


End file.
